Quilting is becoming an increasingly important and integral part of my life. My creative outlet changes how I view the world around me, influences the activities I pursue with my family, and introduces me to new people whose life paths wouldn't ordinarily intersect mine. My life is much like my favorite types of quilts - scrappy and unconventional, full of interest and surprises, and with an underlying current of making do (and making something beautiful!) with what I have.

Monday, May 7, 2012

I've had to check my attitude a bit this past week. Things haven't quite gone according to plan. But I'm proud of myself for seeking and latching onto that ever-present silver lining.

First, lots of great ideas for names for the Charm Quilt. The Random Number Generator selected commenter #11, Colorslut, as the winner of the 25 Charm Squares from me, which will be going out in the mail soon.

But before the name could be decided, there was a minor incident. You see, my washer is on the blink again, so I brought the quilt to town with me to wash at the laundrymat along with the rest of my laundry. I thought I'd be fine since I always pre-wash my fabrics, but I brought a couple of Shout Color Catchers to throw in, just in case. Of course, I forgot that not all the Charm Squares came from my stash, so some of them were from fabric that had never been washed. And wouldn't you know it, some of the fabrics ran. Not a lot, just enough to annoy me, and here I was, at a laundrymat half an hour from my home and a tight schedule and no extra color catchers, etc. I had no choice but to take the quilt home with me.

I did a quick search online before leaving town, though, to see if there was something I should buy and soak the quilt in to fix the problem before drying the quilt. Someone mentioned RIT Color Remover. OK, I know where to find that, so I picked it up on my way home. I put the quilt in some water to soak with this Color Remover, sure that soon my quilt would be back to its former glory and all clean and crinkly to boot.

WRONG!

Here's the before picture:

Here's the after picture:

I didn't cry. I didn't cuss. I didn't vomit, even though I felt a bit ill when I saw just how many COLORS had been REMOVED from my newly completed quilt and how unevenly they were removed. Instead, I reassured myself that at least now, I would get to keep a quilt that I had made, since there was no way I was going to give something this UGLY to someone else. My hubby made a great point - that it could be my home theater cuddle quilt since it is so dark down there that no one would be able to see it. Now, I'm just kinda wishing I had ruined a larger quilt...but not really.

So now, I'm having no problems coming up with names for this puppy...

All Washed Up

Faded Dreams

Butt Ugly

I could go on and on...

Live and learn, right? Any of you have some TRIED AND TRUE methods to share with me to get just a tiny bit of color running out of a quilt top without going all Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor from Home Improvement on it like I did?

The week wasn't all ugly. I took Friday off to attend the first day of our annual Guild Quilt Retreat. My checkboard flimsy

turned into this:

I was surprised at how quickly it went together, but also at how much the top shrank down. What started out at 40.5" x 36" is now 22" X 25". There was quite a bit of leftover fabric that COULD have been waste, but not for this Bonnie Hunter protoge! I cut down what I could to make a pieced border (which I hope to get on there tonight), and the rest went into my 1.5" squares tin. And being famous for being a scrap collector, many of my fellow retreat-ers gave me their leftovers as well. I was able to add lots of variety to my 1.5", 2" and 2.5" squares tins. And I'm happy to say I got it all trimmed up while I was there, so no scraps that still needed cutting came home with me.

Saturday was another "look for the silver lining" day. I was invited to be a vendor and demonstrator at the Old Middlebrook Village Day in a nearby town. It is an old-timey event with live music, food, and crafters. I went last year, too, and it was lots of fun for not just me, but my kids, too. Wouldn't you know it - it rained ALL DAY LONG! A few hardy souls came out, but mostly it was just us vendors huddling under our tents, trying to stay warm and dry. I'm so glad I was a hand-quilting demonstrator - not only did my quilt keep me warm throughout the day, but I also was able to make some progress quilting my Pick and Choose quilt. Plus, I did sell a couple of things, enough to buy the kids and myself lunch and make a couple purchases from other vendors. So, I spent a day sewing while my children cavorted about having a ball, and I made enough to break even on the day. That's not all bad, right?

I will say that yesterday I did nothing except eat, nap and read. After all the disappointment of the week, I needed some time to recharge my batteries so I could come to work with a winning attitude today.

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About Me

I am blessed with a fantastic family - an attentive husband; two smart, handsome and extremely active sons, a mom of uncommon strength and limitless love, and three smart and fun siblings. I quit my job in college admissions, which I enjoyed, to pursue my passions and open a shop for fiber artists of all kinds to share their talents with others. Now, I spend my days teaching, helping customers and CREATING!